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Arab States Remain Muted About Syria Strikes

The Response Underscores the Political Sensitivities of Being Seen Allied With the U.S.

By

Matt Bradley And

Ghassan Adnan

Sept. 23, 2014 1:27 p.m. ET

BAGHDAD—The five Arab states who participated in Tuesday's early morning strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria remained muted about their roles in the attacks, underlining the political sensitivities of being seen to ally with the U.S. or Syrian regimes.

Three of the five involved countries issued perfunctory, vague public statements about the strikes, none of which carried any mention of the target country of Syria or the U.S., which led the attacks. An unnamed official was quoted on Saudi state news agency as...

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